Have you ever left your headlights on for a long time or played the audio for too long when waiting for someone or something just to find that when you are ready to turn the car back on, it won’t just start? It could happen anywhere…

A car battery charger is one of those essential car accessories you should have in your vehicle at all times, just the same way you drive around with a spare wheel. The market today is full of very advanced car battery chargers that will help you do more than just restore the charge in your battery after depletion. One of the outstanding features of a good one is that they will condition the battery and make it last longer and maintain it for you.

Without much further ado, here is our top selection of the best car chargers on the market today!

The Best Car Battery Charger

1

Battery Tender Plus 021 Car Battery Charger

See More Reviews

See More Reviews

Check Latest Price

The Battery Tender Plus car battery charger is one of the best chargers we found and which makes it first on our list. It is a product of Deltran, and it is a compact charger ideal for owners of rarely driven cars such as golf carts, classic show cars, and ATVs. Though it may not boast of a lot of power as most of the top battery boosters, it has a remarkable ability to slowly charge and maintain a 12V and 6V batteries with a lot of ease.

The charger comes fitted with a microprocessor unit to help assess the state of the battery, and it will commence charging in the correct mode automatically. The microprocessor will also ensure the battery is not overcharged by hooking off automatically when the battery is fully charged.

The Battery Tender Plus charger also comes with lovely safety features to ensure maximum safety every time it is in use. These include reverse-polarity protection and the spark proof clamps. With the reverse polarity protection, the battery won’t charge if it detects that the clamps have been placed on the wrong terminals as this usually ends up ruining the battery because it can result in overheating or even an explosion.

Key Features:

Reverse polarity protection

Water resistant

Safety Timer

Spark proof clamps

Specification:

BrandBattery Tender

Model021-0128

Weight2.3 pounds

2

NOCO Genius G7200 Ultra Safe Battery Charger

See More Reviews

See More Reviews

Check Latest Price

NOCO Genius smart battery chargers is one of the most advanced and safest chargers in the market today. This G7200 7.2Amp is specifically for charging from 12V up to 24V lithium-ion batteries and lead-acid batteries up to 230Ah. It also has the versatility to maintain garden and lawn, marine, automotive, and deep-cycle batteries.

One of the most outstanding features of this smart charger is that it can charge twice as fast as the ordinary chargers and it can also power DC devices, repair damaged batteries, and it will work well with CANBUS electrical systems and micro-hybrid start-stop cars.

With the help of an onboard microcomputer, the NOCO Genius G7200 smart battery charger has features to monitor all the activities necessary for safe and efficient battery charging. It will automatically minimize the consumption as well as optimal guarantee levels of reliable protection. These include reverse polarity protection, overcharge protection, and spark-proof technology.

You can comfortably connect the charger for 24/7 without worrying about any safety concerns whatsoever. Its sleek design also ensures it is compact, portable and weighs less for ease of carrying around.

The charger comes fitted with external mounting holes as well as a rubber base to stop it from slipping or scratching the surfaces on which it is placed. The intuitive LED indicators will give state-of-the-art feedback on the charging process and other diagnostic information even when the charger is set to maintenance mode.

3

Schumacher SE – 4022 Manual Wheeled

See More Reviews

Check Latest Price

This is a manual wheeled charger and tester with a wide range of capabilities that include various charging rates for different operations. With it comes the abilities to not just analyze electrical systems, but also analyze any starting problems the systems may be facing. It is ideal for 6V and 12V car batteries and can support up to 200 amps for emergency starting as well as 40 amps for fast charging of up to between 1 and 3 hours.

The Schumacher SE – 4022 manual charger boasts of three charge states which include a rapid 40 amp rate, 10 amps for fast charging and a slow trickle charge of just 2 amps.

One of the features you will admire about this charger is its speedy charge rate. For a standard car battery, it can charge the battery within an hour or less if set on the rapid 40 amps charge setting. For the slow charge times, it cannot charge for more than twelve hours, and this is highly commendable considering the charging capacities of most of its counterparts.

The charger is not controlled by microprocessors, and it doesn’t have any button controls. It is manually operated and monitored, and it will also not shut off on its own. This may not be a problem if you will be around the charger for most parts of the day, but it may not be a right decision to leave it unattended to for some hours or leave it charging overnight. The battery may reach full capacity and overcharge.

Key Features:

Charges both 6v and 12v batteries

Fitted with wheels for ease of moving

Has a voltmeter and two rotary switches

Has three charging rates

It is a heavy-duty battery booster with lots of power

Specification:

BrandSchumacher

ModelSE-4022

Weight27.3 pounds

4

Schumacher SE -1052 Manual Starter/Charger

See More Reviews

Check Latest Price

Here comes another car battery charger that can also be used as a starter. The Schumacher SE – 1052 manual starter/charger boasts of a 50 amp engine capability ideal for emergency starting. It has a three function power switch which allows you to choose from the different three charging modes. The modes include a 2 amp trickle charge mode designed for charging small 12 volt car batteries between 2 and 12 hours, a 40 amp rate for fast charging and 10 amp charge mode ideal for most of your day to day charging needs.

The charger is completely manual, which implies that it has no microprocessors, neither does it have push-button controls for automatic charging. As such, it is imperative that you monitor it all the time it is being used. Therefore, it may not be an excellent idea to leave it working overnight or leave it unattended for a couple of hours during the day. This is because the battery can easily overcharge if maximum capacity is reached and the unit is not unhooked from the battery.

Key Features:

50 amp engine start

3 Function power switch

Manually operated, hence must be monitored

Specification:

BrandSchumacher

ModelSE-1052

Weight10.2 pounds

5

Stanley BC25BS 25 Amp Bench Battery Charger

See More Reviews

See More Reviews

Check Latest Price

The Stanley BC25BS 25 Amp Bench Battery Charger is a fully automatic car charger with all the versatile features you may desire to have for a decent automotive charger. Whether your vehicle won’t start due to a default battery or your car battery needs some maintenance, this is just the right kind of charger you need to solve such issues. All you have to do is simply connect the clamps to the terminals then press charge to start off the process.

One of the features you will find most admirable about this unit is that you don’t have to select the charge rate every time you are using it. It has an inbuilt capability to automatically select the charge rate, ranging from trickle charge to rapid charge, and this is exceptionally instrumental in maximizing the life of the battery.

The Stanley BC25BS 25 Amp Bench Battery Charger also comes with an LCD to show the current state of charging when the unit is in use as well as other diagnostics of the car battery. To protect the battery from getting damaged, the charger has reverse polarity protection, which will detect when the terminals are connected wrongly and stop the charging process.

It also important to note that the Stanley BC25BS 25 Amp Bench Battery Charger has a patented alternator check for showing is the alternator has maintained the right battery level. The alternator check is ETL Certified for safety and performance.

Key Features:

Fully automatic frequency charging

Features 3-stage charging

Has battery reconditioning features

Reverse polarity protection

LCD screen display to show the charging and battery status

Specification:

BrandStanley

ModelBC25BS

Weight8 ounces

6

BLACK + DECKER 6AMP Automatic Battery Charger

See More Reviews

See More Reviews

Check Latest Price

BLACK + DECKER BC6BDW 6AMP Charger is specially designed for high performance, fast charging, and maximum efficiency. It has a sealed protection to prevent it from getting affected by dust, moisture, and corrosion to ensure that it operates at maximum efficiency at all times.

The charger can detect and maintain maximum power in the battery. Hence you will not have to be monitoring it at all times given that it is automatic. The outer case is completely sealed to secure it from oil, dirt, dust, and moisture or any other elements of weather it may be exposed to.

Since it is fully automatic, you don’t have to worry about maintaining it, battery overcharging, or dealing with a low battery. It also comes with a cord long enough to let you charge your battery out of the car if you wish to do so.

For the safety features, the BLACK + DECKER BC6BDW 6AMP Charger has a built-in circuit protection guards to offer protection against overcharging, short-circuiting, and reverse polarity. It is also worth mentioning that the charger is ETL certified for both performance and safety.

Key Features:

Provides 0 – 6 amp charging

Fully automatic

Completely sealed, dust-proof and water-proof

Has protection against overcharging and reverse polarity

Can be connected via two ways: battery clamps or 12V DC accessory plug

Specification:

BrandBLACK+DECKER

ModelBC6BDW

Weight3 pounds

Best Car Battery Charger Buying Guide

Now that we have revealed to you our favorite car battery chargers currently in the market, it is also a good idea to let you know what you need to consider when shopping for and choosing a car battery. As usual, you will desire to have a charger that will offer you with the best performance, charge efficiently and help maintain your battery health so that you don’t have to buy car battery now and then.

Additionally, with the current advancements in technology, it is a good idea to go for more than just a charger. If you can get one which offers diagnostics into the health of the battery, that would be highly recommended because such a charger will also help you prolong the life of your battery. With that said, here are some of the factors you need to consider when shopping for a car battery charger:

The Voltage

The voltage refers merely to the measure of the electric strength of the car battery charger. Most cars operate on 12V electrical systems, and you will get it right in most cases when you purchase 12V chargers for your car batteries. But if you need a multifunctional charger that is not only suitable for car batteries, then you can consider a 6V charger for other utility vehicles such as a jet ski.

The Amperage

Amperage refers to the amount of current the charger is designed to handle or the amount of current that flows through it. The higher the amperage, the higher the amount of current the charger can support and the faster the rate of charging. However, you should remember that fast charging is not always a good thing.

Your ideal car battery charger should have the ability to detect what mode to charge the battery, and in most cases, you will be safe leaving the settings to auto so that the charger can choose the ideal rate of charging for the battery.

Safety Features when using a Car Battery Charger

Safety is paramount when choosing a car battery charger. To begin with, you don’t want to overcharge your battery since this may have detrimental consequences. Secondly, car batteries have harmful chemicals in them, and any failure can be hazardous. As such, there are certain safety features you want to have in any car battery charger, and they include the following:

Auto voltage and amperage detection – this is to prevent overheating and overcharging of the battery.

Reverse polarity features – so that you don’t connect the wrong terminals of the battery and the charger

Spark-resistant clamps – the last thing you need in your garage is a spark from the car battery. Other than the potential of causing dangerous fires, the sparks generated by the charger may ruin both the charger and the battery.

These reviews on the best car battery chargers as well as the brief guide on how to purchase a charger should be sufficient to get you going in the right direction when you need a good charger for your car battery. If you find it a bit confusing and you think you need more help, your mechanic should be able to shed more light, and help you make the right choice.